Learning the Hawk Talk

While watching the live camera feed and live chat on the same page, I’ve learned quite a bit about raising hawks. I now know what slicing is (shooting poop!) and what a casting is (see below). These screenshots were taken today – May 15th.

Baby Hawk Standing in Nest

The baby hawks in the nest high above Cornell University in New York, are growing quickly and while watching them on the live camera feed, I have certainly learned a bit about hawks. There is a live chat going on most of the time and the moderators supply answers and info along the way.

Their pin feathers are now growing in – those are the black ones you can barely make out here.

Gagging up a casting

They hack up castings which are longish black things that contain all the elements of their meal that couldn’t be digested. Like an owl pellet I assume. Here, in the picture above that hawklet just spit one out. It’s hard to make out, but it’s right in front of them where they are looking.

Trying out his wings

It’s so funny how they look at each other. This screen shot I took of the one trying out his wings seems to interest his / her little sibling.

Baby hawks fight over a piece of chipmunk.

Another bit of hawk trivia – when they eat their crops (bulge in their necks) get big and fat! Here mom – aka, Big Red, feeds them a newly caught chipmunk and baby 1 and baby 2 have a tug of war over a piece.

Looking at them lined up, I can tell by the feathers coming in which is which. They were all born days apart and the first born is on the right with the last born in the middle. Number 2 seemed to be especially aggressive while eating – I thought.

swisstoons

Great shots…especially the one with the outstretched wings. I think you may have been there at roughly the same time I was, this morning. Did you see the one if the foreground repeatedly tossing a casting into the air…and then shaking his head. Apparently, didn’t like the taste. Didn’t stop him from doing it again, though.